Ten Of The Greatest Singles Of 2012…

Singles are a funny old business these days. The way in which we consume them at an extraordinarily fast rate is somewhat worrying ESP when trying to remember back throughout the past twelve months – so these ten songs have been influenced by the most played tracks, that were released officially as singles according to our iTunes library data and my, what a surprising collection…

10.Christina Aguilera – ‘Your Body’ – Working with Max Martin, gave Christina had her most pop moment to date but still managed to use her impeccable vocals to devastating effect. It’s a romp throughout – catchy, current and exciting.

9.Justin Bieber Feat. Big Sean – ‘As Long As You Love Me’ – A surprising Rodney ‘Darkchild’ Jerkins production! Justin sounds superb, restrained during the verse, powerful during the falsetto of the chorus. The ravey, dance electronic dubstep beats showed maturity and an insight as the kind of artist Justin is becoming.

8.Kelly Clarkson – ‘What Doesn’t Kill You (Stronger)’ – A well written empowering tale – Kelly’s powerhouse, killer vocal soars during the chorus, she also sounds sublime during the verses. The production showed a different and refreshed sound to Kelly’s sound. An anthem for many years to come.

6.Girls Aloud – ‘Something New’– A triumph! Once again showing the formidable combination of Xenomania and the girls. It’s an anthem – the colourful shouty refrains in the intro “we girls gonna run this” to the similarly shouty “follow the leader” that appears out of nowhere during the fade of the track make it a noisy, exiting and very thrilling return.

5.Cheryl – ‘Call My Name’ – Exuberant and uplifting, funky and ultimately invincible – resistance is futile. The tracks oozes charisma and Cheryl delivers such wondrous performances. Her performance on The Voice MADE this song for us – the choreography, visuals and styling all made a big impact and propelled the song even further forward.

4.P!nk – ‘Try’– Stunning, arresting and intense. Structurally, the song is well put together from the swell of the verse, the instrumental breaks before the big swooping chorus capped with heartfelt emotive vocals as only P!nk can deliver. The stunning, more serious but show stopping second single that we have to expect from a P!nk album campaign (see Who Knew, Sober).

3.Little Boots – ‘Every Night I Say A Prayer’ – The Italo house piano of the chorus recalls many 90’s dance classics, the vocal, lyrics and production is uplifting, ethereal and joyous. Little Boots delivered her finest, most impassioned vocals to date.

2.Bright Light Bright Light – ‘Feel It’ – The 90’s house, gospel tinged inspired track was a phenomenon – the vocal is impassioned and full of hope and desire but it is the lyrics that arouse the most euphoria – “when the world falls apart, you’re the reason there’s still hope in my heart” – outstandingly divine.

1.Usher – ‘Climax’ – This Diplo produced, quiet storm slow jam revolutionised Usher’s sound. The electronic moments, the way in which the track builds but never reaches the crescendo and the stunning restrained vocal on the verses and magnificent falsetto of the chorus make this such an astonishingly brilliant track. It’s also really very clever in it’s structure and production, plus, the lyric is heartbreaking “I gave my best, it wasn’t enough. You get upset, we argue too much. We made a mess of what used to be love” – *blubs*The Kaskade remix is also absolutely worth checking out too.